Savings for Retirement?

MMiz

MMiz

I put the M in EMTLife
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As I start a new job soon, I once again have to decide what to do with my retirement account.

I read online that 1/3 of all Americans don't have savings for a retirement, and I'm surprised to see that many private providers don't offer retirement plans.

How do you plan to save for retirement?
 
MMiz said:
How do you plan to save for retirement?
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With money.

Actually, what I do now (albeit I'm younger, with less bills to pay) is I put away 25%, or whatever you can manage, into an account.
You can split it 50/50, so you get money for a vacation, etc, or 100% into savings. It's all up to you. Personally, I go about 75/25, 75 savings for when I'm older, 25 vacation/play money, out of that 25% I put into savings. The rest goes to bills, and other miscellaneous things.

That's just my preference of doing things, it's organized and based solely on percentages, theres no tinkering with it, no "well I got a bonus for 10k, so maybe...". It's stringent and works for me.
 
Government pension plus national pension plus I put away 50 bucks per pay into a savings account.
 
15 percent of my pretax income for the last 17 years with a 10 percent employer match. Nice chunk in my 401k even with the market drop.
 
10% employer match?!?! Want to PM me with a job application for wherever you are working?
 
Aidey said:
10% employer match?!?! Want to PM me with a job application for wherever you are working?
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Try a 2:1 match of 12.5% ;)
 
I have never worked anywhere that offered more than 5%, and that was for employees that had been there at least 10 years. It was 3% otherwise.
 
Aidey said:
I have never worked anywhere that offered more than 5%, and that was for employees that had been there at least 10 years. It was 3% otherwise.
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Yeah I've got it pretty sweet. We just got a 401 Roth though. If I'd had that the whole time it would be even sweeter. I'm not complaining though.
 
For us it's 401k with match up to 5% plus ESOP program with 5 year vesting. Im fully vested in that now- if I leave the ESOP buys me out at whatever my vested balance is. The ESOP is looking good considering all I had to do was participate in 401k and show up to work.

Im only doing the match so that some short term cash is freed up. Once a few things are paid off Ill raise it to 12% then increase it every year by half of my raise percentage.

My wife and I work for the same company with the same start date 9 years ago and between ESOP and 401k have low 6 figures in retirement $$.
 
My pension contributions are matched by the employer and contribute at a set rate. Maturation with 30 yrs service and then defined benefit pegged to inflation at retirement. OMERS has done pretty well in the economy and is almost 100% funded and on track to be there.

I also have my Canadian Pension Plan contributions.

I was saving but my wife's illness and the new baby have ended that.
 
I work for the county and we have a county pension. Noncontributory, and after 25 years, it's 50% of your 3 highest paid years, but insurance benefits at county cost.

Obviously, that's not a huge wad of cash, but most supplemnet that with an additional 457 or IRAs.
 
We have a 401k. They match 4% so I do 6% for a total of 10% per paycheck. Probably going to bump that if they do the company-wide raise I've heard rumors about.

I'd like to get my total contribution up to 15% sooner rather than later.

Might be breaking forum rules but does anyone have opinions on Roth vs. Standard contributions? Pops recommended the Roth for me then the HR lady gave me a :blink: type look when I turned in my paperwork. I'm wondering if I can do both. This whole benefits/retirement stuff is new to my young self. Ski and Beach Patrol didn't have any of this stuff.
 
Helpful thread. My employer gives me a 401k after 1 year of service. I believe it is 6%. So if I invest 6 % of my income they will back me another 6%? So I will have like 12% going into a retirment fund? Thats sounds pretty good =).

For us private side medics hat other options do we have besdes trying to get into a goverment job? What advice do you you have for someone with a familiy and bills? I`m thinking of doing 1 24/ot shift a mo or 2 and put % of it into savings.. Thats 400-500 a mo in a saving account.
 
NVRob said:
We have a 401k. They match 4% so I do 6% for a total of 10% per paycheck. Probably going to bump that if they do the company-wide raise I've heard rumors about.

I'd like to get my total contribution up to 15% sooner rather than later.

Might be breaking forum rules but does anyone have opinions on Roth vs. Standard contributions? Pops recommended the Roth for me then the HR lady gave me a :blink: type look when I turned in my paperwork. I'm wondering if I can do both. This whole benefits/retirement stuff is new to my young self. Ski and Beach Patrol didn't have any of this stuff.
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Roth Roth Roth. At your age it will put you way ahead.
 
b71xi's deal was similar to our county's except the County unilaterally cancelled health benefits to retirees a few years ago and has spent millions stubbornly resisting the concept that they could do that (repeatedly losing).

Even if you can't get into a pretax withholding plan, at least get your money into a big mutual fund. Make some sort of automatic deposit then forget about it.
Me? Supposed to get mil retirement and TRICARE starting next June, plus County retirement, and mostly money put away in a pretax withholding investment into a mutual fund...and we inherited some too. Spouse retired next year as well. Then begin to budget budget budget. (And the occasional teaching gig).
 
mycrofft said:
b71xi's deal was similar to our county's except the County unilaterally cancelled health benefits to retirees a few years ago and has spent millions stubbornly resisting the concept that they could do that (repeatedly losing).

Even if you can't get into a pretax withholding plan, at least get your money into a big mutual fund. Make some sort of automatic deposit then forget about it.
Me? Supposed to get mil retirement and TRICARE starting next June, plus County retirement, and mostly money put away in a pretax withholding investment into a mutual fund...and we inherited some too. Spouse retired next year as well. Then begin to budget budget budget. (And the occasional teaching gig).
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My croft brings up an excellent point. Set it up for direct deposit then forget it's there for 11 months. Check it once a year to make sure it's on target then forget about it again for another 11 months.

Also keep in mind that whatever percentage you start saving at is probably the highest percentage you'll ever be at. If you start at 6 percent each month it's very unlikely you'll adjust that up to 7 percent at some point. Things like kids, bils, and emergencies always create disincentive to do so. So go big at the beginning.
 
We also have a health spending account that kicks in after retirement of $2500 per year for prescription drugs, paramedical, mobility aids, optical, dental, etc. Pretty much whatever isn't covered by government health insurance.
 
bigbaldguy said:
My croft brings up an excellent point. Set it up for direct deposit then forget it's there for 11 months. Check it once a year to make sure it's on target then forget about it again for another 11 months.

Also keep in mind that whatever percentage you start saving at is probably the highest percentage you'll ever be at. If you start at 6 percent each month it's very unlikely you'll adjust that up to 7 percent at some point. Things like kids, bils, and emergencies always create disincentive to do so. So go big at the beginning.
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Your investment company might offer financial counseling too, someone to explain your account and work with you to form strategies.

If you get a windfall like a raise or a good night at bingo, maybe take out a single "present" for yourself not to exceed 10% then invest the rest. IF things contract, then readjust, don't choke yourself.

And "under water" houses? (Excepting New Orleans). Don't panic or be stampeded into selling even if you cannot meet the payments. Prices will rebound at least somewha and will recover in time, get advice from a professional and definitely from your lender (not from us here!). Maybe you will need to sell short or declare bankruptcy but maybe not.
 
My deepest appreciation!

Having squandered my life away to this point, I'd have to be honest and say in about 320 days my retirement will be provided by your tax money!

But of course, that will just be Mad Money because if I can keep doing what I'm doing and getting paid for it (Maui tour guide) I'll do it 'til the wheels fall off!

(Never having pictured myself living long enough to retire, I really never let it drive me.)

That's not to say I haven't made an effort to create myself a parachute. Instead of concerning myself with retirement I've focused on building bodies of artistic work; music, photography, and books, that, hopefully will gain traction and generate an ongoing income.

My point is, there are many ways to prepare. I don't know how long this economic system will be able to maintain itself so I don't have a lot of faith in anybody's dollar having a secure place to grow.

Most of my friends took the corporate route, got married, had kids and sunk all their time in preparing for a comfortable retirement. They built comfortable lives, had nice homes, got their kids through college but now, due to economic factors compounded by a crashing real estate market are in the same dismal boat as me.

The only difference is, they worked much harder than I did to get there!
 
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